


Meant to be

by Mierke



Category: Hart of Dixie
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-18 08:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5914774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mierke/pseuds/Mierke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre-series, during Lemon and Lavon's relationship while George was in New York.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meant to be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [APgeeksout](https://archiveofourown.org/users/APgeeksout/gifts).



Later, she would wonder how it had happened. She had hardly even known the mayor before that day, certainly hadn't voted for him (a football player for a mayor, how ridiculous). But there had been something about the way he looked at her, the way he looked after her, that had melted her heart in a way that had left her eerily vulnerable. 

That first kiss hadn't been planned, nor had the many that came afterwards. 

The discovery about her mom had put a blanket over everything, a sort of surreal feeling to her day to day life that extended to what was happening with Lavon. After that only phone call to George, the call that had made it so clear that he was in New York now and had no time for silly old Bluebell, thoughts of him had drifted to the back of her mind as well.

She had never meant for any of this to happen, and still, it felt like it was all meant to be.

Lemon turned around and watched the sleeping man in the bed next to her with a smile on her face. She knew he loved her - it hadn't been two weeks, and yet, she could see it in his eyes, in how soft he smiled at her, in the way he touched her. 

"I think I might love you, too," she whispered as she laid a hand on his cheek, stroking his skin with a touch of her thumb. He stirred, but didn't wake, and Lemon knew it was better that way. Whatever they had now, it surely couldn't last. Nothing that felt this all-encompassing could ever be right.

***

It was four weeks since their first kiss when Lemon and Lavon got on the road to wherever-was-not-Bluebell. Lemon was so bored with everything Bluebell had to offer and if crossing the town border managed to lift a burden off Lemon's shoulder, well, that was just because it was freeing to be away from her responsibilities for a while.

Lavon was driving, leaving Lemon with too much time to think.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked eventually, and Lavon took a quick look at her with a smile on his face before turning his attention back to the road.

"I did say it was a surprise, didn't I?" he said, and Lemon rolled her eyes. Very unladylike, but who was there to scold her?

"I don't like surprises," she informed him, but Lavon just chuckled. 

"I don't!" she insisted, "so just tell me!"

"I won't," he answered, and he laid a hand on her leg to relieve some of her tension. "You will love this surprise, I promise."

Lemon scowled, and turned her attention back to the road. What she loved was being in control. Not this weird state in which her feelings seemed to have gotten the better of her, and why did Lavon not just _tell_ her what-

Lavon stopped the car and Lemon had to gasp.

"You're taking me _here_?" she said, not even able to hold her excitement when she saw Lavon's slightly smug smile.

"I figured you'd like it," he answered, getting out of the car and holding the door open for her. "Good food that you made yourself, and you get to upstage other people. It just screams Lemon Breeland."

Lemon got out of the car and swung her arms around Lavon, giving him a kiss and dragging him towards the entrance.

"This is amazing," she said.

She had heard about _Your Own Kitchen_ \- in fact, she had researched it extensively when it had first opened a few months ago and she had been desperate to try it out. 

They entered the building and got ushered to a wide open kitchen with place for about six different couples. It looked a bit like those competition cook shows, and Lemon couldn't contain her happiness. She sized up the other guests as Lavon chatted a bit with their host. There were six of them, and each would get a certain dish to prepare - two entrees, two main dishes, and two desserts. At the end, they would get to eat a bit of everything. 

All the official information said it wasn't a competition, and there was in fact a banner above the door that said as much as well. But they were still going to win, weren't they?

Lavon took her arm and led her to the kitchen island at the far end of the room, where he laid down their cooking card.

"What did we get?" Lemon asked excitedly, but Lavon positioned himself between her and the card. 

"First, let me hear this was a good surprise," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, best surprise ever," Lemon said, and reached around him to grab the card.

They got dessert! That was amazing. Lemon knew how to make the _best_ desserts.

"Now," she said. "I know we could just follow the recipe on the card, but that would be boring wouldn't it? I propose we make certain changes - if we substitute the sugar with some applesauce, and..."

She trailed off as she noticed Lavon looking at her with a smile on his face, his eyes glinting with admiration or approval or... she was not going to allow herself to think the other word, though it was still there in the back of her mind.

"What?" she said, a little self-consciously, and she put down the card. 

Lavon put his hands on her waist and dragged her a little closer.

"I love your drive," he simply said. "I love seeing you so focused. I love..."

"I love being here with you," he eventually concluded, and Lemon beamed at him. Somewhere a gong rang, and they and the other participants moved to the host who was giving a welcoming speech. 

Lemon tuned out (ever since finding out this place existed she had read the brochure so much that she was pretty sure she had memorised everything the guy was saying) and tried to think about what to do with the dish (she was decidedly not thinking about what Lavon had been going to say). 

Applesauce instead of sugar would add a little flavour to the dish, and if they could use vanilla extract instead of vanilla protein powder, that would certainly help. She tried to glance over at the table with ingredients, but couldn't make out everything. 

She shifted impatiently on her feet, and smiled at Lavon when she felt his steadying hand on her hip. 

"He's almost done," he mouthed at her, and Lemon couldn't help the warmth that spread through her body at the realisation that he wasn't irritated by her impatience. 

"And... go!" the host said, obviously enjoying his non-televised imitation of a cooking show host, and Lemon shot towards the table of ingredients. Lavon leisurely followed at his own pace, and when he had arrived, Lemon had already collected most of what they needed (bananas, apples, applesauce, a spice rack with to her delight both cinnamon and nutmeg, almond butter and milk, and, thank the heavens, vanilla extract). 

"We will get the ice when we're done with the preparations," she said, as she shoved half of her load onto Lavon's arms. 

They got back to their island, while most of the people around them were still standing at the ingredient table, apparently discussing what the best ingredients for their recipe would be. Lemon scoffed at them, and turned towards the island. Seriously, it was as if they had actually listened to the host's speech instead of making much better use of their time and mentally preparing their dish.

She arranged the ingredients on the island, and let out a little squeal when Lavon suddenly put his hands on her hips.

"Breathe," he whispered into her ear, and for just a second she let herself relax against his body. 

"We've got all the time in the world," he said. 

"But this needs to cool for an hour," she said, "so technically, we only have thirty minutes."

She stepped out of his embrace, and handed him the apples to dice. While he took to his task with a dedication that Lemon couldn't help but admire, she set up the blender and measured out all of the ingredients. 

Around her, the other participants were trickling back to their work stations and starting their preparation. It felt wonderful to be here, to be surrounded by people and still feel like her and Lavon were the only one who mattered, and do something as deliciously domestic as making dinner with the man she... 

Loved.

She might as well just think it out loud. 

The blender drowned out any further thoughts (like how on earth had this happened, and what was she going to do about it?), and she focussed fully on the consistency of her mixture. When it was ready, she poured it into a bowl and asked Lavon to stir the rest of his apple into it. He smiled at her as he did so, carefully following her instructions even on something as simple as mixing apple into a milkshake. 

He always took her so seriously, and after he put the bowl in the freezer and Lemon had turned on a timer to remind them to stir the mixture in thirty minutes, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug that meant to say everything she couldn't say out loud. 

I love you.

I need you. 

Stay with me.

***

Later, Lavon would wonder how it had all fallen apart. He had known she had a boyfriend, of course, but he had always thought George had been more of a habit. He'd heard the rumours flying around town since the man had left for New York - Lemon wasn't even supposed to call him, and neither was willing to move. How could there be future in a relationship when the two people in it weren't even communicating?

So he had given himself fully to Lemon, had given himself over to what a life with her would entail. He had showed her his heart and soul, and without any hesitation. He had felt the woman he loved do the same; no matter where they were, no matter what they were doing, he could feel that she was there with him.

He had never meant for any of this to happen, but still, to him, it had felt like it had all been meant to be.


End file.
